Hughton has dismissed such speculation, though, telling reporters: "I have heard those reports, but the facts are that he has signed for Norwich City and I expect to see him on the first of July.

"Any talk of a relegation clause in the contract is not fact. That is where we are and we look forward to seeing him next season."

The former Birmingham boss was less definitive on the future of Kei Kamara, whose loan deal from Sporting Kansas City is set to expire May 6.

"We are conscious that a decision has to be made on him," Hughton said. "He has made a good impact. We still have a bit of time. It's not for a few weeks that we need to make that decision and we are putting our heads together to see what we want to do."

With five games still to play, Hughton is confident that his side can avoid being sucked into a relegation fight that it has avoided for the majority of the season.

"We still have six very good clubs below us at this moment and it is our intention to stay where we are," Hughton said. "We have five games, three of them at home. It is in our hands. It could be worse, we could be in 17th or 18th place. Apart from the early part of season we have not been in the bottom three.

"That indicates that overall it has been a decent season. We just need to make sure we finish it well."